CHAPTERSIX

“One Mocha Latte, one Caramel Frappe and two New York cheesecake, please!” a girl ordered with a bright smile and a wink, but Jongin, who was at the cashier counter made no notice of it. The said girl even pulled her skirt higher to show off her smooth, milky legs and her school shirt with its top three buttons ed. But still, Jongin’s eyes remained on the red-haired barista two feet away, doing his job. 

Jongin only repeated the order monotonously and then handed the receipt to the girl, oblivious to the efforts the girl had made to make him notice her a little more. The girl took the receipt with more force intended, obviously unhappy at the lack of response from the good-looking cashier and took off to her seat to wait for her order.

With a sulky pout still resting on her face, she knew that the only reason why the handsome cashier took no notice of her was because of the red-haired barista who was currently taking two cheesecakes out of the glass refrigerator. The ends of her thin lips turned into a smirk as she leaned in to her friend, and whispered to her about her plan. Together, they both shared a snicker.

Ah, yes. Let’s wait till the little red riding hood falls into the wolf’s trap. 

Darren could barely fit all of the girl’s orders into the small tray (oh look, just one cup of coffee and there’s barely any space for anything else, he grumbled). Slowly and carefully, he went over to the girls’ table to serve them their orders. As he almost got the tray on the table, he felt a harsh tug on his arm, causing the tray in his hands to lose balance and its contents spilling all over the table, the floor and most importantly, the girl who ordered. The said girl let out a screech and screamed at Darren, who only stood rooted to the ground. 

Oh he knew, it was the girl who tugged his arm and got its contents spilled on her. He did not know the reason why, but seeing how her plan got her wet and sticky made him glad. Darren put on a fake, sorry front as if he was panicking and did not know what to do. Immediately he grabbed the hand towel attached to his half apron and wiped the spilled contents on the girl clumsily. 

“Watch where your hands are going!” the girl let out another screech (and it’s honestly hurting Darren’s ears now) where Darren dropped the towel in response, his guilty facade still on show. 

As Darren was still trying to clean up the mess, he felt another harsh tug, the sheer force causing him to turn around. Jongin only muttered a barely audible apology before dragging Darren by the arm and into the back of the cafe. In the corner of his eye, another waiter, his name probably called Sehun or Sehyun came to relief his job.

“Darren,” Jongin started before getting cut off by the red-maned male, “you can just call me Ren, makes it easier for me anyways.” Jongin could only smile sheepishly before starting again, “you know what she did was on purpose right?”

“I know that,” Ren replied nonchalantly while using the hand towel Jongin just threw him to clean himself, “it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.” 

“She’s probably doing this because I wasn’t paying attention to her,” Jongin explained as he took a sip of his vitamin water. “I figured that out too. I mean, her skirt was really short and the voice she uses on you, is really cutesy, or I would like to call, cringeworthy.” Ren replied again, wiping away the last bits of whip cream off his apron. Both of them shared a mutual laugh and continued making fun of the girl until Ren got up to get his water too. 

“Since it’s barely five minutes to our break time, I guess we can take a break now.” Jongin said as Ren got up, “I mean Suho Hyung will not mind…” Ren only nodded. Jongin took a seat at the steps facing the alley at the back of the cafe, and not long later, Ren joined in.

“Since we will work together for at least four hours a day, I guess we will have to know each other a little.” Ren said as he took a gulp of his drink, “so how about you tell me about yourself?” 

Jongin rubbed his neck a little, before starting. “My name is Kim Jongin? Some people do call me Kai, but mostly my childhood friends. I don’t really have friends in school now, not really sure why… I have two elder sisters, one is two years older than me, and the other is four years older than me….” 

“Great family planning..” Ren interjected, which earned a laugh from Jongin, “well I guess. When I’m not working or in school, I will dance. I’m not really good at it since I’m self taught, but I’m always trying,” Ren watched Jongin talk about his hobbies and goals with a glimmer of hope in his eyes, and sadly compared to the lost darkness in his own eyes.

I don’t know anything.

“Then what about you, Ren?” Jongin asked the wide-eyed male, unconsciously staring into his owl eyes. They looked so familiar, it looked like he was looking at Kyungsoo at the moment. But deep down inside, he knew this was Ren, and not Kyungsoo. The brief eye-contact was unnoticed by Ren.

Ren, obviously taken back by the question, cleared his throat and continued, “honestly,” he took a deep breath and looked at the narrow sky cut off by the buildings, “I don’t know.”

“To be frank, I forgot everything.” Ren kept his eyes up in the clouds, “I only knew I was called Darren until my parents told me that that was my name. They said I slept a really long time, about two years? And it was a miracle that I woke up. Everyone was happy that I did. But I forgot everything that has happened. I forgot what school I went to, what friends I made, what I liked, what I disliked, my favourite food, my hobbies, everything that made me me.” Ren then looked at the boy beside him, clearly captivated by his words. His eyes, even though was still glistening with hope, looked a little lost.

Is he trying to find something too? Just like how he himself is trying to find himself back?

“I’m like a blank canvas right now. So my mother told me to get a job here since she knew Suho Hyung.” Ren continued, “you know, to get some colour back into my life?” and he added a dry laugh.

Jongin tried to keep his emotions under control. Everything about Ren reminded him of Kyungsoo. Be it the looks, the voice and especially his eyes and lips. However, hearing about Ren’s story made him feel a little sorry for him. He personally did not know anyone who lost their memory, but it seemed really sad. Imagine one day you just suddenly didn’t remember anything about your life. He must feel super confused and lost, just like how lost he himself was lost about Kyungsoo’s disappearance.

Are they somewhat alike in this way?

Before Jongin could further sink into his whirl of thoughts, Junmyeon’s voice shouted from the kitchen to get them back to their work. 

“Hopefully some crazy girl do not try to sabotage you again,” Jongin joked and both of them laughed. 

“I really hope so too.”

♦⇔♦

(Food)note: this is what sleepless nights do to you. currently 3.33am in my country. in the small hiatus of my national examinations so im updating now bc i dont have proper priorities. next week is hell week with my national examinations, please pray for me bc i need a lot of prayers >< don't forget to comment upvote subscribe, seriously your comments will make my day ^^ alright sleeping already my eyelids are too heavy fak